A few years ago I inadvertently quit caffeine by trying to quit soda. It never occurred to me that my body would miss caffeine. I stopped drinking sodas on a Sunday. Felt fine on Monday. Tuesday evening I went out to Kelsey's (a local restaurant) & ended up leaving early because my head started hurting. By Wednesday I was miserable. I left work early & ended up too sick to make it into the house. Thursday I was convinced I was dying, but the headache started easing up on Thursday afternoon. By Friday I felt fine.
It wasn't until a few days after that someone told me that I had gone through caffeine withdrawals. I decided that I wasn't going to be dependent on caffeine at all. How brave I was! How misguided...
Before two weeks were out I was drinking caffeinated drinks again. Not because I wanted to, because there was nothing else at the restaurant to drink. You see, I can't stand the taste of chlorine, I get seriously nauseated from it. So, (I thought), what's the harm in the occasional glass of tea or diet coke? Before the year was out I was fully addicted again.
I've tried several times since then to go completely off of caffeine but each time the headache gets me. Lately I have come to terms with the idea that there will probably always be some caffeine in my life but I'm trying to at least leave the soft drinks out of the equation. I know they are pretty bad for me but dangit, they taste so good! I am getting my caffeine from green tea at this point, and only 2 cups a day.
So far so good. Wish me luck.
I quit the sodas on Sunday. My last diet Pepsi was on Saturday night around 11 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI crave the soda. But I'm satisfied with Crystal Light. At night, I drink a cup of hot chocolate, and while I'm getting caffeine, it's not as much as before and it's not as bad for me. (That aspartame can do CRAZY things to your body!!) Diet sodas also make you hungrier. I've found myself snacking less this week, but drinking oh-so-much more water and crystal light. Good luck on your non-soda journey!